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War, violence and
language in Ken Saro-Wiwa’s Sozaboy
Chijioke Uwasomba
Department of English, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,
Osun State, Nigeria.
E-mail:
cjsomba@yahoo.co.uk.
Accepted
3 February, 2010 |
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This essay is
based on Ken Saro-Wiwa’s novel, titled Sozaboy. Apart from
using this novel to interpret [DBMS1] and locate the
history and politics of Nigeria within a particular period,
the essay tried to look at the 1967 - 1970 Nigeria’s civil
war as fictionalized by Ken Saro-Wiwa, the nature of the
language and implications on the English language in
Nigeria. It also attempted an understanding of the moral and
political consequences of war on humanity in general and the
special effect of the Nigerian civil war on the minority
areas within the Biafran enclave in particular as epitomized
by Dukana, the setting of Sozaboy. The essay concluded that
the novel itself was a bold attempt at experimentation with
language, considering the fact that it was written in what
the author himself described as “rotten” English.
Key words: Dukana, Nigerian pidgin, civil war,
sozaboy, refugee camp. |
